Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Bethany Hartley, Director of Diversity & Inclusion at South Bend - Elkhart Regional Partnership. We hope you enjoy Bethany’s wisdom and perspective.

“By experience we find out a short way by a long wandering.” ~ Roger Ascham

Author Tom Peters and his partner Bob Waterman first coined the term MBWA, or Managing By Wandering Around, in the 1980s after visiting Hewlett Packard as part of their research for In Search of Excellence. They noticed that the most successful organizations had leaders who spent a great deal of their time engaging with their teams. By being out in the field or on the factory floor they were closer to the action while building personal relationships with their people. This allowed for better and more efficient problem solving.

Nowadays with company workforces, business units, and even teams spread around the country, literally “wandering around” may not seem as practical. Yet MBWA is really a metaphor for being in touch with your employees, your partners, and your clients. “It’s the discipline of getting out of your office and getting close to where the work is really done,” says Peters.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Sue Hawkes, Certified EOS Implementer, Certified Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Best-Selling Author. We hope you enjoy Sue’s wisdom and perspective.

Imagine driving on a highway you’ve never been on before. Preferably you’re driving a convertible and the views are breathtaking. In this scenario, it’s unlikely you’ll notice the guardrails. However, the guardrails are almost invisibly keeping you on track, guiding you safely and efficiently to your desired destination. In your business, your Core Focus™️ functions the same way.

Your company is the vehicle and your Core Focus is the guardrail for your journey; keeping you moving forward, allowing you to focus on what you do best.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, John DiJulius, Chief Revolution Officer & President of The DiJulius Group. We hope you enjoy John’s wisdom and perspective.

I recently was in Las Vegas to speak to a homebuilders association. The night before at the reception, my host was introducing me to their members as the keynote speaker for the next day. One of the members asked me what my topic was. When I told her it was Customer Service, she responded with, “I need to hear it, because my customers make me crazy.” She went on to give me an example, “One woman was building a 1.5-million-dollar house and you wouldn’t believe how she was losing her mind over the caulk. It is caulk!”

I found this story funny. It is the same story in every industry. Employees are not trained correctly to see things from the customer’s viewpoint. What they are struggling with, their fears and concerns. It is never about the caulk or the shipment being late. Those are just the tipping points to why someone may become irrational.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Erik Johnson, Principal at J2 Marketing. We hope you enjoy Erik’s wisdom and perspective.

Businesses start making brand decisions before they gain a single customer. When you plan the interior vibe of your restaurant, you’re making brand decisions. When you choose a logo, you’re making a brand decision. Even the typefaces you use are part of your brand.

There are two pitfalls we’ve seen a lot of businesses run into before they come to us.

1. New businesses often make brand decisions without finalizing their brand.
2. Businesses that have been around a while don’t have established brand standards and overtime, get off track.

In both cases, business owners, brand implementers (like employees, printers, or designers), and potential customers get confused.

A recent article by forbes.com claims that “Consistent brand presentation across all platforms increases revenue by up to 23 percent.”

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Steve Gawronski, Founding Partner at Lachesis LLC. We hope you enjoy Steve’s wisdom and perspective.

Earlier this year, the founder of Southwest Airlines, Herb Kelleher, passed away. Mr. Kelleher openly dismissed business strategy, often uttering his famous, sarcastic quote when questioned about Southwest’s strategy: “We have a strategic plan. It is called doing things.” Reading of his passing made me think of some recent conversations I have had with our clients about strategy, operations, and data analytics.

There seems to be an undercurrent of thinking that strategy is one thing and operational excellence is another. Our clients are very much focused on operations, as they should be. They see great merit in getting things done and driving initiatives towards completion. And this is all good and necessary and admirable. But in fact, strategy and operations are so closely interwoven that, in a well-run company, one does not exist without the other. There is no better example of this than Mr. Kelleher’s own Southwest Airlines.

“The sergeant is the Army.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

As Tom Peters recounts in The Excellence Dividend, his early years in the Navy taught him how important “first-line chiefs” are to an organization. For Peters, “chiefs” is Navy-speak for Chief Petty Officers, the naval equivalent of sergeant in the Army.

“First-line chiefs are key #1 to organizational effectiveness and we invariably (way) underplay their collective importance,” writes Peters. “Not getting this is a strategic mistake of the first order.”

Frontline bosses are the main embodiment of corporate culture. They are the champions for excellence and enablers of sustained employee development.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Mike Paton, Visionary at EOS Worldwide, LLC. We hope you enjoy Paton’s wisdom and perspective.

During a recent Annual Planning season, one of my clients was moved to tears while reflecting on the past year. He was recounting a “personal great,” and filled with pride for his daughter while sharing a few of her significant accomplishments. He struggled to finish the story, and ultimately needed to take a short break to compose himself. Throughout this touching, heartfelt moment, he kept apologizing to his team for being so emotional.

Truth be told, I regularly witness crying, yelling, and various other forms of passion in a session room. Running an entrepreneurial company can be hard. Most of my clients spend far more hours at work than they do at home with their families. They pour themselves into their businesses as if their lives depend on its success or failure. They worry deeply about the well-being of every employee and most customers. And they often have to make tough decisions that adversely affect someone that matters to them very much.

Everyone has probably heard the acronym K.I.S.S. (Keep It Super Simple) made famous by the U.S. Navy in the 1960's. It was used to gently remind people to work towards simplicity in design and process rather than falling into the trap of over complication. Even though this acronym has permeated into several facets of life and business, it is a skill set that many forget and few are able to master.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Gravitas Impact Premium Coaches. We hope you enjoy their wisdom and perspective.

Have you ever heard of the “Impossible Task”?

It’s a term you likely won’t find in any peer-reviewed journal, but you may be familiar with it. It actually grew out of a viral Twitter thread from back in August and is used to describe a symptom of depression where seemingly simple tasks — such as folding that pile of laundry, paying a bill, or even responding to an important email — suddenly become impossible to complete for no reason at all. You have all the tools. You know what needs to be done. You may even be fully aware of the simplicity of it, but you just. Can’t. Do it.

How often do businesses find themselves with a similar problem when it comes to execution? You have your strategy, your team, and your map. You know what needs to be done, but you just can’t seem to get out of the strategy phase. As it turns out, the answer is “a lot.”